The Murder Mystery Mayhem Man
by capercailiechild
Summary: It's a sequel to the Senior Stalker Case... Sara's seizures continue, and there's a serial killer on the loose, looking for a female with a seizure disorder. Here we go again...


The Murder Mystery Mayhem Man

The Murder Mystery Mayhem Man

_Subtitled_

The Continuation of Sara's Seizures

"'Oh, what a glorious peasant folk am I!Happy spring, happy day, happy life, happy existence!Oh, but for that I should exist without spring!Nay, `tis a sorry state!'" Gil Grissom sang to his Las Vegas office. 

Warrick Brown, watching from the doorway, said, "Excuse me?" and laughed.

"Robert Barlow Fycus, Warrick, don't you read _anything?"_

__"Apparently not."

"Well then, what can I do for you?"

"Another victim was found in the Murder Mystery Mayhem Man case," Warrick answered.

"Remind me."

"Murder Mystery Mayhem Man," Warrick began to rattle off. "Male.Has killed six people, four men, two women.Says he needs eight bodies to finish up his total.And here's the weird part.He only kills people with seizure disorders, like epilepsy…"

"Or Papillion," Grissom finished. "Who's working on it?"

"Catherine and I so far," Warrick answered. "Catherine said we shouldn't get Sara involved if we don't have to."

"I don't know, Warrick," Grissom said thoughtfully. "Sara hasn't had a seizure in two months, ever since we solved the Senior Stalker case."

"Sara says her doctor says that a long period without seizures usually means she will have a big one some time soon."

"What doctor?"

"Ellis.Holly Ellis.She checked out okay."

"Thank you." Grissom took the file from Warrick and strode out into the conference room, where Catherine was piecing together some dossiers on the victims. "Hey, Cath, what's…"

Before he could finish his sentence, Sara came in, followed by a large black Lab dog wearing a blue collar. "Grissom, do you know where Greg is?"

"_What_ is _that?"_ Warrick asked. "Sara, you're not this animal type."

"It's a dog, Warrick," Sara said patiently. "Its name is Moonbeam."

Warrick snorted. "_Moonbeam?"_

__"I didn't choose it.Dr. Ellis did."

"Dr. Ellis gave you her dog?"

"No, Warrick.I bought it from her." Sara spoke slowly, like she was talking to a preschooler.Warrick might not have been one, but he sure acted like one.

"You bought a dog?"

Grissom set his coffee mug down on the table. "Warrick.The dog helps to warn Sara about seizures.It's like a seeing-eye dog, you can take it into restaurants.Now get over here and help me finish this.Sara, I don't know where Greg is.Try the cafeteria."

Greg was in the cafeteria, eating a piece of cherry pie. "Hey, Sara, what's up?"

"Greg, I need you to analyze this for me."

"What's with the dog?" Greg asked, watching Moonbeam, who was curiously barking and leaping in the air.

"Nothing.I need you to analyze this." Sara held out a piece of fabric.

"Ew," Greg said. "What is that?"

"I don't know, that's why I need you to analyze it."

"Can you tell your dog to knock it off?" Greg questioned.

"Moonbeam!Sit!"

The dog ignored Sara.

"Dr. Ellis said that when she jumps around and… oh no." She took off at a fast pace, running with the dog behind her, for the elevator.

"Gotta find them, gotta find them…" Sara rummaged through the contents of her backpack. "Where are they?"

Catherine came in then. "Where are what?Whoa, what's wrong with the dog?Sara, are you okay?"

"I am right now, but things are fading every minute," Sara said quickly.She kept digging through her backpack. "I can't…" She struggled to stay focused. "I can't find the medication that will stop the seizure.SHUT UP, MOONBEAM!" The dog didn't follow her orders.

"Are you having a seizure?"

"Not at the moment, but Moonbeam seems to think I am." Sara held up the bottle. "Here they are."

Before she could do or say anything further, her arms started shaking, and her breathing became quick-paced and reckless, like she was hyperventilating.Moonbeam barked quietly._Oh, so now_ _he listens_, Sara thought wryly. "Sara," Catherine said.She'd witnessed this before; all she had to do was keep her wits about her. "Sara, sit down on the floor." She struggled her partner onto the floor, against the lockers. "I'm going to go get Grissom.Keep talking; we don't want you to pass out."

Moonbeam licked Sara's hand.As gross as it was, Sara began to sing, "Five little ducks went out one day…"

Catherine met Grissom halfway down the hall.He saw the look on her face. "Sara?"

"Yeah." They went down the hallway quickly, to where Sara was still singing.

"Mother duck said, quack, quack, quack, quack, and all the little ducks came running back."

Grissom knelt down before her. "You okay?"

"So far.I just took one of the pills.It should stop in a minute."

Grissom went back down to the conference room, and Catherine stayed with her.But the seizure didn't stop; it moved onto her legs, and then her eyes closed and Sara fainted.She laid there for a few moments, then groaned. "It didn't work."

"What didn't work?"  
"The medication.Call Dr. Ellis.Something's wrong."

Holly Ellis was a cheerful, red-headed person wearing a brightly-colored Hawaiian flowered pantsuit.She smiled at all she saw, including Greg. "Catherine?Hi, I'm Holly Ellis.Hi, Moonbeam," she greeted the dog. "Where's Sara?"

"She's in the locker room.It's right down here."

Sara was sitting up against the lockers, her face pale and her hands still shaking.Nick was with her, and he was discussing the latest issue of _Popular Science_ in detail. "The article on page sixty-eight, now _that's_ what I call a descriptive article!I _love _jet fighters, don't you?"

"Sara?"

"Dr. Ellis," Sara said, opening her eyes.Her voice was raspy.

"Nick, get her some water," Catherine suggested.

He left then, and Sara grinned tiredly. "I was just getting tired of _Popular Science_."

"Catherine says the meds didn't work," Dr. Ellis put in.

"No."

"It's okay.We're going to take you into the hospital for observation, see if we can figure out why not.Can you stand up?"

Catherine helped Sara to her feet.Sara turned whiter than she was and began to shake again.Dr. Ellis helped her to sit down. "Here, sit."

"Thank you," Sara breathed, and sat.Her body continued to shake violently.

"What do you think's wrong?" Catherine questioned Dr. Ellis.

"I'm really not sure.One of my colleagues will know, though."

Sara awoke in another stark white room.She was really getting tired of this.But this time she wasn't alone.A girl was lying in the other bed. "Wow, you've been out a long time," said the girl.

"Why, what time is it?" Sara asked.

"It's almost morning.Your friend got tired of watching you sleep.She's asleep."

Catherine was stretched out uncomfortably in a padded chair.She was sleeping, though.

"I'm Danielle," the girl said.

"I'm Sara," Sara replied, and pushed herself up into a sitting position.

"You've got Papillion's," Danielle said.It was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah."

"When they brought you in here, you were shaking like a bat in hell froze over," Danielle said.

"Thanks for the graphic description."

Danielle smiled at Sara, and Sara, amazingly, smiled back.

Moonbeam awoke then, and whined, hungry.

"What is _that?"_ Danielle asked.

"That's Moonbeam," Sara answered.

"You can't have a dog in the hospital!" Danielle exclaimed.

"This is a seizure-detecting dog."

"I wish I could have one of those," Danielle said. "I've got Papillion's, too, 24-17."

"What's that?"

"What?"

"The numbers.What do they mean?"

"How bad you are.I'm 24-17, but there's 36-15, 33-12, and 18-62.You obviously don't know what you are."

"No, I don't."

It was 7:30 before Dr. Ellis came in, and 8:22 before Catherine woke up.The latter stretched her arms and legs, and peered around. "Whoa," she said slowly. "What time is it?"

"Almost 8:30," Danielle answered.

"Who is that?" Catherine asked.

"Danielle Madagascar, ma'am," Danielle said brightly.

"Well," Catherine said.Unable to say anything else, she said, "Well" again, and left the room.Dr. Ellis came in again. "I think we've figured out why the meds didn't work."

"Any news on the Murder Mystery Mayhem Man?" Warrick asked Nick, coming in.

"No," Nick answered.He was eating a jelly doughnut.

"That looks tasty," Warrick said.

"Yep," Nick responded, his mouth full of jelly.

"Any news about Sara?"

"Just that she's still having seizures and they can't figure out why." Nick swallowed the rest of his pastry.

Grissom came in, followed by Catherine.Catherine was wearing the same clothes as she had been yesterday, and they looked wrinkled. "Catherine, good fashion statement," Nick commented.

Catherine gave him a disgusted look, and went to the refrigerator.

"Any news?" Warrick asked Grissom, who always looked like he knew something.

"None," Catherine said, before Grissom could respond. "Besides the fact that she's now been diagnosed as having Papillion's 33-12."

"Is that bad?"  
"It's the second to worst kind you can have."

"Ah." 

"Any news on the case?" Catherine asked, getting some juice and a bagel out.

"Well, police in South Dalton, about ten miles from here, have identified a man who confessed to the Murder Mystery Mayhem Man killings.His name is Justin Rawls, and right now, he's our top suspect."

"Have you set up an interview?" Grissom asked Nick.

"No, sir," Nick said. "But the South Dalton police did it for me."

Grissom looked at Justin Rawls.For a person Nick had called a "man," Mr. Rawls didn't look like a man anymore than a baboon looked like a dog.

"How old are you, Mr. Rawls?"

"Seventeen," the adolescent croaked.

"Do you know what you're here for?"

"I confessed," Rawls said.

Warrick came bursting in then. "Grissom –.."

"Warrick, I'm in the middle of something."

"There's another quadruple M murder."

"Sara, are you all right?"

Sara's face was paler than Nick had ever seen it.At least she had stopped shaking. "Y-yeah, I'm g-great."

The body was of Danielle Madagascar, a fifteen-year-old girl with Papillion's.

Grissom and Warrick came up. "Sara, are you all right?" Grissom asked.She was awfully white.

"Here, sit," Catherine said, and led Sara over to a chair.

"What've we got?" Grissom asked.

"Danielle Madagascar, 15.Murdered.Obviously by the quadrupleM man.She follows the same pattern.No note, just the word 'gone' written on the right wrist.Tape over the mouth.No fingerprints anywhere."

"Crap," Catherine said slowly. "What are we going to do, Grissom?"

Grissom shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"We're discharging you," Dr. Ellis announced to Sara. "I've switched your medication to a different drug.It should work better.There are some potential side effects, like unexpected shaking, lightheadedness, dizziness, and fainting._Don't drive_.Come back in three days and we'll check you out and make sure you're doing better." She patted Moonbeam on the head, then left.

Grissom sat down at the table some time later.He pulled two of the files towards him.Nothing.Nothing.They had nothing on the Murder Mystery Mayhem Man.And now there were seven people dead, three women and four men. All with some sort of seizure disorder, including Sara's friend Danielle.And there was no way of predicting who was next.

Sara sank down onto her squishy couch and sat back, reaching for the remote control.Moonbeam sunk down on the floor.She turned the TV on.A news program came blaring to life, the perky Asian news anchor smiling for the camera. "Here's Randall Cresswold with our next story," she said. "Randall?"

The camera switched then to a husky-looking man with a goatee. "Thank you, Janet.Some of you may have heard of the Murder Mystery Mayhem Man –."

_Click_.Sara changed the channel.Still Randall's face was there, continuing as though she hadn't done anything at all. "But what you might not know it that-."

Click.

"He is looking for his"

Click.

"Eighth"

Click.

"Victim"

Click.

"Tonight."

"What?" Sara said in disbelief, not about the news report but about the TV's odd behavior.

Click.Now it was off.Fourteen non-cable channels and they were ALL showing the same news story.It was unbelievable.She had to tell Grissom.

Someone was following her.

It was a man.He was in a Jeep.He had been following her for the past ten minutes, ever since she'd gotten in the car.It was only a few blocks to CSI, but her throat seemed to be constricting and her heart was pounding.What side effects had Dr. Ellis mentioned?She couldn't remember.

At least she had the dog.Moonbeam could attack him.

Yeah, right.

One more block, one more block.

Her hands were shaking now and her palms were sweaty.

One more block, one more block.

At last, after what seemed like eternity, she saw the familiar façade of CSI.Good, Grissom was still there.

Hurriedly, she got out and locked the doors of her car.The man was coming, too.

_Run!_Something in her brain screamed. 

Sara ran towards the door.She pulled it open, the man close behind, and almost fell into the hallway.Moonbeam barked excitedly, thinking it was a game.

Grissom, Nick, and Warrick were standing there. "Sometimes things bemuse, stun, shock, or puzzle me.Other times, I'm just confused," Grissom said.A pause. "I speak not only about the case but for you, Miss Sidle.I thought you went home."

"Sorry – Grissom – killer," she gasped in a partial sentence.

"What?" he exclaimed.

Behind her, the man walked into the hallway.

"That's him!" Sara gasped.

"Hey, Mitch," Grissom said.

The man acknowledged him, then got into the elevator.

Sara stood shakily and gasped for breath.Her hands were still shaking, but more from fear than from seizure.Moonbeam licked her face. "Ew, Moonbeam!"

Nick and Warrick looked at each other and collapsed in laughter.

Catherine was making hot chocolate in the microwave when Sara and Grissom came in. "Sara?" Catherine said. "What are you doing here?"

"The 'killer' attacked her," Grissom said dryly.

"Really?"

"Mitch Andrews from second floor," Grissom continued.

Sara flushed.

"It could have happened to anyone, Sara," Catherine consoled her, getting out two extra mugs.

"He's after me," Sara said with conviction. "I know it."

__

Grissom, Nick, Warrick, and Catherine were going over the victims' files.Sara was asleep on the floor, Moonbeam like a giant body pillow next to her.All were drinking hot chocolate and wondering aloud.

"Well, the victims all were treated at Southside Mercy Hospital," Warrick said. "And all were treated by Dr. Ellis."

"She _is_ the only seizure specialist in the Las Vegas area," Nick pointed out.

Grissom went to the white board in the front of the room and wrote the seven victims' names under "male" or "female."

Female Danielle Madagascar 

**Rosanna Corliss**

**Stephanie Kirkpatrick**

** **

Male 

**Roger LaCroix**

**Devon Arbuckle**

**Thomas Renoir**

**William Shires**

** **

"Okay," Catherine said, nodding in agreement. "That clears it up." She paused. "How many had epilepsy and how many had Papillion's?"

Grissom looked over the files, then went back to the white board and wrote:

Epilepsy 

**William Shires**

**Rosanna Corliss**

**Roger LaCroix**

**Stephanie Kirkpatrick**

** **

Papillion's 

**Thomas Renoir**

**Danielle Madagascar**

Devon Arbuckle 

"Okay, so we have three females, four males.Three with Papillion's and four with epilepsy.Quadruple M man says he needs four of each."

"So the one he's missing is a female with Papillion's," Warrick said.

"Right," Grissom said.

Before any of them could speculate further, a loud "BANG!" came from the direction of the lab.All three of them rushed out of the room.

Greg was standing in the lab, his clothes and hair wild and askew, covered with grayish powder.He pulled off his protective goggles, and the three CSIs saw that his face, except for the part covered by his goggles, was gray as well.

"Greg, it's a bit early for the Fourth of July," Catherine commented. "Are you trying to blow us up?"

"Just trying to see what would happen if I mixed some different cleansing powders," Greg said with a rueful grin. "How are you coming with the quadruple M case?"

"Not well," Nick said. "We don't have anything much to go on."

A woman from down the hall came in. "There's a dog in the conference room!"

"We know," Grissom said. "He belongs to a friend of ours, Sara Sidle."

"But you left him _alone?"_ the woman said, incredulously.

"What?"

The three of them and Greg went back across the hall to the conference room.Moonbeam was leaping wildly and barking like a crazed maniac dog.Sara was nowhere in sight. "What is your name?" Warrick asked the woman.

"Christine Fernier.Is something wrong?"

"Did you see anyone go in or out of this room?"

"A man," she answered.

"What did he look like?"

"Tall.He was wearing dark clothes."

Grissom knelt behind the table where Sara had been sleeping, searching for a clue, anything.But there was nothing.Nothing.They still had nothing.

Sara awoke in a strange, unfamiliar place.Her head hurt and it felt like it was going to explode.Her hands and feet were tied and numb.Her throat was constricting.

_I am going to die_.The words echoed in her brain before she could stop them.There was nothing else._I am going to die_.

There was someone else.

A man.

_I am going to die, and I don't even know how to stop it._

Grissom and his crew had been searching all morning.Nick and Warrick, though they refused to admit it, were exhausted.But both cared far too much about Sara to stop looking.

They had checked all the abandoned warehouses along the industrial roads.Nothing.They had checked all of the places victims had been found before, even at Southside Mercy Hospital.No one could give them any leads.

It was hopeless and they knew it.

The man was whistling – _whistling!_

Sara didn't recognize the tune, but it sounded like a Beatles song. "What is that?" she asked.

"What?" the voice was gruff.

"The song.What is it?"

"Shut up."

Sara didn't ask any more questions.

Dr. Ellis sat in front of Grissom and Catherine. "I don't know anything," she said.

"Any male personnel you didn't have on shift last night?Anything?"

"Well, Hollis Armbruster, but he traded shifts with Jeannie."

"Has he done that before?"

"Of course.Hollis likes to watch the news channel on Friday nights, so he usually trades off with Jeannie if he gets that shift."

"Can you tell us which Fridays he's done it?"

"Well, last Friday, and for about seven or eight weeks before that."

Catherine looked at Grissom and he looked back.Seven weeks ago was when the murders had started. "Where does Hollis live?" Grissom asked Dr. Ellis.

"On Castle Street.Why?"

"Thanks."

"Hollis Armbruster?"

"Yeah." The voice was gruff.

"I'm Gil Grissom, from the Crime Lab, and we have a warrant to search your house."

Hollis Armbruster was a big man, 6'2" or so.He wore dark khakis and a sweatshirt. "What?Why?"

"We think you may have something to do with the murders going on," Catherine said.

"What?" Hollis seemed astonished. "What's with the dog, anyway?Bomb squad?"

Grissom gave a look at Moonbeam. "Okay, boy, go find her."

" 'Her?'" Hollis questioned.

Grissom and Catherine followed Hollis into the foyer as Moonbeam ran off.The dog stood, barking, at a door in the hallway. "What's down there, Mr. Armbruster?"

"My cellar."

"May we have a look?"

"I don't see why not."

Grissom and Catherine descended the stairs.Hollis shut the door after them.In his hand, he held the key to the door."Suckers."

The cellar was dark and damp.Boxes, folding chairs, and a few odds and ends were scattered everywhere.Moonbeam hurried down before the two investigators and ran around into the corners, whining and barking quietly. "What is it, boy?" Grissom asked.

Moonbeam went over into a corner and pawed at the wall.Catherine, who was following him, came over. "It's a closet."

"Well, open it."

Catherine did so.Sara fell out.

After both Catherine recovered sufficiently from her shock, they inspected Sara.Her hands and legs had been bound with industrial strength duct tape.Her body had gone limp and her breathing was shallow. "She's seized recently," Catherine murmured as she helped Grissom undo the tape.

"Shh," Grissom said. "Listen."

They both listened.Upstairs, a male and a female voice were arguing.The male was Hollis Armbruster.Who was the female?  
"Well, dang, Holly, why did you turn me in?"

_Holly._

"Hollis, I had to!They were asking too many questions.You're insane."

"Now, you listen to me!They've got that dang dog with them!They're gonna find her."

"You locked the door, Hollis."

"Dr. Ellis," Catherine whispered to Grissom, who nodded.

Sara was coming around.Grissom propped her up against the wall, and Moonbeam started licking her hands. "Ew, Moonbeam…"

"Just because you locked the door doesn't mean anything, Holly!They're gonna find her.She's seized, and they know it."

"So kill _all_ of them!" Dr. Ellis' voice said.

"Sara, come on.Wake up," Catherine urged. "We have to get out of here."

Sara began to shake.

"Oh, no," Catherine groaned.

"Sara, come on," Grissom said. "You have to stop.We have to get out of here."

Moonbeam whined.

"Shh, Moonbeam," Grissom ordered.

Sara's eyes closed, as if contemplating everything. "Let's go," she said in a raspy hoarse voice.

There was another door behind the laundry room.It was locked, but partially rotted away.The three were able to get out safely into the yard.When they had reached the car, Sara sat down, Catherine turned on the air conditioning, and Grissom called for backup.They had their man.And woman.

Hollis Armbruster and Holly Ellis were tried and found guilty of committing seven murders and contemplating the eighth.They were to serve life sentences in Las Vegas Community Prison.No more was said on the subject.

Moonbeam was judged to be a very "excitable" dog and was given to a farm in the country.

After the whole thing was over, Christine Fernier was given some of the reward money for helping to track the quadruple M man.

Sara's seizures stopped completely, and she hasn't had one since.


End file.
